Victim turns to Twitter in bid to track down bike thieves
Tuesday 05 July 2011
Latest in Crime
On Facebook
From the blogs
The ugly face of TV: How Jeremy Clarkson brought facial prejudice to a head
If you saw someone with a facial disfigurement walking down the street, would you A) Laugh at them B...
Atlantic Odyssey: Exclusive first hand account of how a world record attempt ended in near disaster
Writing exclusively for The Independent, Mark Beaumont recounts the incredible events that saw an at...
Stacking shelves won’t help career progression
Over the last week, we have seen a series of dodgy manoeuvres by the government regarding unpaid ret...
Is catastrophic global warming, like the Millenium Bug, a mistake?
"The whole idea of climate being one number driven by another number is nutty." Prof Richard Lindzen...
As the beer garden buzzed with the spirit of summer, nobody seemed to notice the two men in tracksuits huddled over a brand new bicycle chained to railings yards away.
When a table of friends spotted the robbery at a pub in North London, one witness took a picture with a mobile phone and raised the alarm.
James Jones, 27, had just been telling friends how his new, £500 bike had revolutionised his life when he watched it being taken away.
"I couldn't believe they were so brazen to steal it right under the noses of nearly a hundred people," said the television director. I just left my phone, bag and pint of beer on the table and ran after them shouting 'stop'."
The police arrived and dusted for prints but none had stuck. When a bystander showed James the photograph they had taken on their mobile phone, he decided that, "as a last resort, I would tweet the image in the vain hope someone might recognise the thieves and bring them to justice".
The picture has become an internet sensation since the incident at 8pm on Saturday. By yesterday it had been viewed by more than 30,000 people including comedians Danny Baker and Rufus Hound and the newscaster John Snow. As Jones waited last night for leads, he joined the swelling ranks of bike theft victims. In London alone, reported bicycle thefts have grown from nearly 18,000 in 2008 to almost 22,000 last year.
As more people across the country take up cycling, cities including Manchester and Cambridgeshire have reported similar rises. In London, the Metropolitan Police launched Operation Helium, in a bid to halt a growing crime wave.
- 1 How an A-grade prank by a hacker closed a school for a day
- 2 Gallery: Rio Carnival in full swing
- 3 Bonus row as RBS losses hit £2bn
- 4 Mitt Romney pounces on Rick Santorum in TV debate
- 5 Journalists killed in Syria rocket strike 'were targeted'
- 6 Top Tory attacks PM for Rupert Murdoch 'cronyism'
- 7 Prosecutor tells Mubarak he faces death by hanging
- 1 How an A-grade prank by a hacker closed a school for a day
- 2 Last bow for Blur at Brit awards?
- 3 Copenhagen, probably the best city in the world
- 4 How did a man buried in this frozen car for two months come out of it alive?
- 5 Ian McKellen: What's wrong with us? Should we not aspire to happiness?
- 6 The sci-fi movie Hollywood would not dare to make
- 7 Robert Fisk: 'If only Hague and Clinton would listen to Yusuf Islam'
- 8 Manx court sentences man to be hanged
- 9 Journalists killed in Syria rocket strike 'were targeted'
- 10 Aborted baby lived 45 minutes
Win an adventure with Subaru XV
Enjoy a three-night family adventure for four to Slaley Hall in Northumberland.
Delivering network infrastructure for London 2012
Cisco is maximising connectivity for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Free trial of our new iPad app
Get your daily dose of the best of British journalism, sponsored by American Airlines
Amazing restaurant offers
Three glasses of free champagne and a special menu at 46 top London restaurants.
Latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
Can we pull the plug on the plug?
The 10 Best Lecture Series
Michael Frayn: Still making a big noise




Comments